Hi everyone, new to the forum! I bought a house over a year ago and there is a pond in the back...well a hole with water!
The house was rented out for a few years and then unhabited for the last year before we bought, so the pond was seriously neglected. Right now, the water level is low, about 20 feet accross and maybe 2-3 feet deep, but it does get higher in the spring and fall. The pond level is basically the water table level. I can tell that the previous owners had done some sort of landscaping around it, because I am digging up some nice big rocks under the plants, grass and weeds that have taken over.
I guess the best thing to do would be to empty the pond and rent a shovel to dig out all the sludge and plants and try to start fresh, but I'm trying to avoid this. I don't mind putting in a little grunt work for a few weekends to try to make this thing more presentable. My goal for now isn't to have fish, just something that doesn't look and smell like a swamp!
So I've ordered this aerator :https://www.pondusa.com/product/aquascape-pro-60-pond-aerator/ which should arrive this week. I also added some of this product : https://canadianpond.ca/product/bacterius-pond-nitrification-control-organic-sediment/
I am now manually removing plants, grass, branches and whatever I can dig up while the water is low. I am also thinking of getting a floating skimmer to try to clear the surface up a bit.
Any other suggestions? Can I just keep on doing what I'm doing and get a decent end results? Or should I just start from scratch? Should I leave certain plants to act as a natural filter? Any gizmos or products I should know about?
Here are some before pics, I will snap some in the morning of what I've done so far! Thanks!
The house was rented out for a few years and then unhabited for the last year before we bought, so the pond was seriously neglected. Right now, the water level is low, about 20 feet accross and maybe 2-3 feet deep, but it does get higher in the spring and fall. The pond level is basically the water table level. I can tell that the previous owners had done some sort of landscaping around it, because I am digging up some nice big rocks under the plants, grass and weeds that have taken over.
I guess the best thing to do would be to empty the pond and rent a shovel to dig out all the sludge and plants and try to start fresh, but I'm trying to avoid this. I don't mind putting in a little grunt work for a few weekends to try to make this thing more presentable. My goal for now isn't to have fish, just something that doesn't look and smell like a swamp!
So I've ordered this aerator :https://www.pondusa.com/product/aquascape-pro-60-pond-aerator/ which should arrive this week. I also added some of this product : https://canadianpond.ca/product/bacterius-pond-nitrification-control-organic-sediment/
I am now manually removing plants, grass, branches and whatever I can dig up while the water is low. I am also thinking of getting a floating skimmer to try to clear the surface up a bit.
Any other suggestions? Can I just keep on doing what I'm doing and get a decent end results? Or should I just start from scratch? Should I leave certain plants to act as a natural filter? Any gizmos or products I should know about?
Here are some before pics, I will snap some in the morning of what I've done so far! Thanks!